Ricky Elam Jr., a 35-year-old Black / African American male from Phoenix, Arizona, was killed on June 25, 2018, in a shooting inside a home on the 5600 block of South 13th Place in south Phoenix. He had gone to the residence with his friend, 28-year-old Ja’Cory Ranger, and the two were there together that afternoon when the violence occurred. Memorial information shared by loved ones describes Elam as a funny, loving and hard-working irrigation technician for AAA Landscaping, known by the
nickname “Duke” and remembered for his big personality and sense of humor. He was a father of nine children, and accounts of the case note that his youngest child was born only weeks after his death, while the two victims together left a total of twelve children without their fathers.
Police were called to the south Phoenix neighborhood near 16th Street and Southern Avenue at around 4:45 p.m. after nearby residents reported hearing gunshots coming from the house. Responding officers found Elam and Ranger inside the home, both critically wounded by gunfire; they were pronounced dead at the scene by Phoenix Fire personnel. Several other people who had been inside the residence when the shooting started ran out and were later contacted by detectives during the investigation. A third gunshot victim, later identified in court proceedings as Marcus Demery, was found at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was linked back to the same incident, leading authorities to characterize the event as a triple shooting that resulted in two homicides and one surviving victim.
In the weeks after the killings, Phoenix detectives identified 38-year-old Terrance Shonray Lamb as the primary suspect in the case. A Silent Witness bulletin issued by the Phoenix Police Department listed him as the suspect in the homicides of Elam and Ranger, describing him as approximately 6 feet 5 inches tall, about 300 pounds, with a beard, and stated that he might be driving a white 1997 Chevrolet Express van with Arizona license plate CGK2031. Investigators said they had developed probable cause to name him as the suspect after learning that an argument inside the home escalated into a physical fight and then gunfire, during which three people were shot. Authorities reported that Lamb fled the scene in a stolen vehicle, and law enforcement partners, including the U.S. Marshals Service, offered a combined reward of up to $4,000 for information leading to his arrest; the families of both victims later added their own money to increase the incentive for tips.
Several months later, an anonymous tipster informed authorities that Lamb had left Arizona and was staying in Memphis, Tennessee. Acting on that information, the U.S. Marshals Service and local officers arrested him there in March 2019 on the outstanding Phoenix warrant, which charged him with two counts of second-degree murder as well as attempted murder and aggravated assault tied to the deaths of Elam and Ranger and the wounding of Demery. After his arrest in Tennessee, Lamb was held in the Shelby County jail pending extradition and was eventually returned to Arizona to face prosecution in Maricopa County Superior Court. He ultimately entered a guilty plea in the double-homicide case. At a later sentencing hearing, family members of both victims filled the courtroom and spoke about the devastation caused by the loss of the two fathers and the children who would grow up without them before the judge sentenced Lamb to 19 years in prison, with reports indicating that he is expected to remain incarcerated until roughly 2038.
